Defiance for Love
by anonymousteller
Summary: Set after' MAINSTREAM'… Kitty calls Lance a hood after their fight outside school… this captures what I think must've happened next… enjoy… will add chapters when school allows... sigh...!
1. Chapter 1

"**Defiance for Love…"**

'_**She hates me.' he thought. **_

"_**I'm sorry." She said.**_

_**Set after' MAINSTREAM'… Kitty calls Lance a hood after their fight outside school… this captures what I think must've happened next… enjoy…**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own X-men or any of the characters. (Though I would love to….)**_

Rogue woke up to a sudden sound of sniffing. She switched on the bedside lamp placed between her and Kitty's bed.

The sound came from Kitty who sat doubled up; clutching her feet close to her chest, her head bent down on her them. The sound ceased as the light flooded the room. Still, Rogue could see her silhouette shaking.

"Oh kitty…" she said and sat near her; putting an arm around her.

"I shouldn't have said… he'll hate me now." Said Kitty before starting again with a fresh round of tears.

Rogue always had problem with handling emotional outbursts. So, she didn't know how to make her stop crying. She just stroked her arm slowly and said- "it doesn't matter Kitty- he won't hate you. He loves you."

"You don't understand, Rogue." Kitty said between sobs- "I told him the one thing everyone does… the one thing he hates. I could've told him anything… but no, I had to go ahead and call him a hood!"

Rogue knew that calling him a hood was the meanest thing one could do. And that Kitty herself had called him that; only worsened the matter. But telling that to her wasn't going to help either. So she just kept quiet and gave her some water to drink.

Eventually, Kitty stopped crying after an hour or so and as exhausted vas she was; fell asleep soon after. Rogue did the same after tucking her best friend in.

**LANCE's POV:**

_Why me?_

_No. why her? If anyone else would've said the word to him; he would've beaten him to pulp and then made sure that he lay rested beneath the ground rubble for eternity._

_Not her._

_Never her. She was his life._

_She was the core of his existence._

_Why did she have to call him a…_

The words echoed in his ears even as hard as he tried to forget them…

"_So this is the real you, isn't it? You're nothing but a hood."_

_So that's what she thought too. Like all the others._

He looked at the charm he'd gotten her for her birthday in advance. Tiny stars hung from the chain and a solitary heart in the middle.

He'd been saving money since past two months to purchase it for her, cutting down on his own needs. The heart twinkled in the light that seeped through from the street lamp outside his window. Tears welled up in his eyes; hot compared to the cold outside. He placed the charm inside his wallet.

_It wasn't her fault._

_Maybe I am this bad and I deserved this. Maybe Summers was right. I didn't deserve her. I would never be good enough for her. So, from now on, I wouldn't bother her anymore._

_Yes._

_I'll stay away from her until all signs of their ever knowing each other vanished._

**Kitty's POV:**

_My eyes burned from all the crying I did last night._

_Serves me right for hurting him._

_Okay. So he broke his promise. What was new in that? He fought Scott badly. And anyway he did whatever he did in self- defense. It wasn't as if he hit Scott without provocation…_

She still remembered the hurt in his eyes when she'd called him a hood. The pain etched on his face as she faced him angrily. And his broken emotion less voice as he'd said- "I'll never be good enough for you."

It wasn't true. She knew that. He was the best for her. He'd always cared for her. Loved her like she was his prized possession and even fought with his friends for her sake. He'd even tried to join the X-Men to make her happy and endured Scott and Logan for her sake. And what had she done? Stabbed him in the back?

No. she couldn't leave him alone once again. No matter what Scott and Jean may say- or Logan; for that matter; she would apologize to him. She won't let their love suffer for the rift in their teams.

Moreover, she loved him more than anything. Even more than herself. She couldn't afford to lose him. He'd lived with too many hardships in the past. Now she wouldn't add another one to them.

Yes. She would apologize to him. Even if that meant going against her friends. Because they didn't know him the way she did.

And anyone who truly knew him couldn't ever hate him. Rogue was a proof to this fact. She sighed and cursed herself for hurting the guy who gave her the priority over himself and vowed to never do it again.


	2. Chapter 2

**The next chapters up! Enjoy….**

"_**Defiance for Love…"**_

The morning was cold in Bayville. Kitty clutched her jacket closer to herself as they climbed out of Scott's car. She couldn't help but glance around to see any sign of lance's jeep. It was nowhere to be seen.

"there is still time, Kitty." Said Kurt in her ear; noticing her gaze." they're not particularly punctual."

Kitty nodded before walking into the school with him.

He didn't come that day. None of the brotherhood did. Dread clutched at kitty's heart. She was finding it hard to breathe. Rogue noticed this and pulled her before she could enter her chemistry class.

"What's wrong; kitty?" she demanded.

"He didn't come." answered Kitty.

"So? He hates coming here; remember? And anyway; he'll come tomorrow or the day after- you can talk to him then. Don't be such a wuss!"

Kitty nodded half- heartedly before walking into the class which she had to endure without her chemistry partner. As granted; without him, the day was bound to drag; and so it did.

Back at her room in the institute; she tried to call him, but he just wouldn't receive any of her calls until a grumpy Peatro picked up the phone.

"Stop calling, catty. He's not here."

"Where is he?" she asked him; making up her mind to go wherever he was and apologize.

"I don't know, do I? No note, no letter. He left home yesterday night and hasn't been home since. Even left his stupid phone here." Said Peatro, annoyed-"a nice thing you told him last night, catty. Made him the happiest man on the planet; hearing that from the girl whom he loves more than his life"

Kitty winced at his tone. _What had she done?_ Before she could say anything; Peatro hung up.

Tears streaked down her face.

_Where was he?_

She fought back her tears and called yet again. This time, it was Tabitha who answered- "heya Kitty!" she said.

"Like, hi, Tabby!"

"Lance's not here. And he left his phone, so…"

"I know… Peatro told me. It's just- give me a message or a call if he returns back, will you?"

"Yeah. Why not?" she answered- "he'll be back, Kitty. Don't worry. He won't rat out on us. Or you." She quickly added." He may be angry but he loves you."

"Thanks Tabby." Kitty replied with a hoarse voice.

She spent the rest of the day locked up in her room, viewing their pictures or just clutching his shirt close to her heart and crying. All this exhausted her so much that she fell asleep around the evening. She woke up after 8 pm. Rogue wasn't there. Probably having decided that Kitty needed some rest; she went down to have dinner alone. Rogue was the best room partner one could have- and an even better friend- for she always knew how to handle her…

Kitty got out of her bed. The room swayed before her. She took hold of the bed post to steady her. When her momentary weakness passed, she picked up her phone. Two messages and a missed call. All from Tabitha. Kitty eagerly opened the messages. It read the same thing**-'he's back home'.**

Kitty felt the knot of tension in her stomach ease up. He was back home. She eagerly called Tabitha. She picked up on the second ring-"hello?"

"Hi Tabby! Thanks so much for the info. Is he fine?"

"No prob, kits. I would've told him that you called but he looked so tired that he went straight to bed." Said Tabitha even as she thought' or injured…'

"That's okay, Tabby. Let him rest. I'll see him tomorrow."

"Right." Said Tabitha.

"Good night." Said kitty, before hanging up. She felt relieved. Tomorrow she would be able to see him.

'I'm so sorry, lance…' she murmured to herself before falling down on her bed; where his shirt still lay and let the darkness take over her vision again.

Next morning; Kitty's anxiety woke her up earlier than usual. She was ready before Rogue was out of her bed. Time seemed to pass very slowly s the rest of the X-men got ready. But finally, they were ready to leave for school.

As they were getting out of Scott's car, the familiar sound of lance's jeep approached. Kitty turned back to find him behind the wheel as usual. He avoided looking in her direction; keeping his eyes focused on the wheel, as the rest of the brotherhood clambered out.

Before she could know; kitty found herself walking towards Lance, who wasn't making any efforts to get out of the jeep. She reached his jeep just as Toad jumped down from it and after making a rude face at her, walked inside the building.

Though she stood beside him, Lance refused to look at her. There was a bandage on his forehead; and another one on his hand. Her heart sank. _What had happened to him?_

"Lance-'she started

He held up his bandaged hand to silence her, still keeping his eyes focused on the wheel, then spoke- "it's over, Kitty. We're done. I get it."

And before she could reply, he turned around the jeep and exited the school compound.

It had started to rain; but Kitty couldn't bring herself to move. Her vision became blurred, though she failed to notice if it was due to the rain or her own tears. She felt someone tugging at her arm and recognized the voice to be coming from Rogue. Then, she passed out.

**Lance's POV :**

As I drove away from the school, I felt as I was leaving a part of my heart there… or my entire heart…

After having stayed out to clear my mind, I had instead ended up clogging my brain even more with beer. And the stupid accident- I would've killed that driver if he'd caused anymore harm to my jeep. My hand pains- and I'm grateful to it. It's nothing as compared to the pain in my chest. At least it's helping me get my mind off Kitty… or more accurately; her words… considering that I couldn't forget her even if my life depended on it… as it did so actually.

Why did she have to be so nice- not to mention beautiful…? I mean, right now; back there, all I wanted to do was to hug her and attend classes with her, particularly chemistry- in which she was my lab partner and watch her fumbling with test tubes.

Focus, Lance. Focus. He looked at the steering wheel, where he'd tied the charm he'd bought for her and sighed. Even to avoid looking at her, he'd counted upon her memories by focusing on her birthday gift he'd purchased in advance.

I cannot forget you, Kitty. I wish I'd never attacked Summers… then you would still be by my side… then you would still be mine…


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note****: new chapter… read it… leave suggestions, give reviews and I might just be more motivated to post chapters even faster…! Kidding .. I love writing so I'll be posting them up anyway…!**

**Diclaimer: ****don't own X-men… never did, never will… sigh…**

"**Defiance for Love"**

**Kitty's POV:**

'It's over, Kitty. We're done. I get it.'

I cant believe it. He just left. After all this time; I waited just to see his face, to apologise to him, and he didn't even look at me! He didn't even let me apologize or say something!

And those bandages! How'd he get hurt? This was all my fault… I had to see him. I tried getting up but firm hands pushed me down again.

"Stay there, half-pint. Lady ain't done yet."

Logan. Of course.

When Lance had turned his jeep and left, I'd passed out. And rogue had freaked out. She made Kurt teleport me to the school infirmary and then Logan had come to take me back to the institute.

The nurse gave me a pill and checked my temperature before informing Logan that he could take me home.

Logan helped me off the bed and led me to the parking lot; putting an arm around my shoulders, ready to hold me if I should faint again.

"Skipped your breakfast?" he asked real casually.

In reality; I knew I was in for a lecture. What worse; I knew I couldn't lie. He would know. Stupid cameras… so much for teenage privacy. So what if before those cameras were installed; we used to wreak havoc around the dining area?

So, I kept silent but nodded.

"hmmm." Was all he responded; before kicking start his bike.

I sat behind him, glad for once to skip the school. I cannot bear another day without_ him_ by my side.

"If you feel like fainting again, kiddo-" Logan said to me-"try telling me before you fall off the bike."

'Yeah. I'll remember that." I replied. I couldn't help but smile. Logan may be a tough guy on the exterior but he sure had his own ways of being worried. As far as I was concerned, he'd been the father figure I'd longed to know more but never got a chance to, because of this mutation. I mean, all these time with him and I knew that I could easily choose him over my own father… that is; if they ever got the courage enough to own up to the fact that their daughter was a mutant. Sure, they loved me and everything; but they would never want to acknowledge my abilities in society. It made me feel… I don't know… unwanted maybe…? Like a criminal of sorts.

I clutched him as a little girl would as he hit the gas.

Storm stood there, waiting for us by the door. I and rogue had doubts on whether she and Logan were secretly dating… I mean; she was the only one NOT petrified of Logan and probably the only one Logan ever cared to acknowledge- if not listen to, however. He didn't even give that much to Prof. X… and certainly never Scott.

"A little milk never hurts, Kitty." She said to me. I bit my lower lip. At least she was smiling.

"Come; let's get you something to eat." She said, leading me to the dining table. Logan followed us and sat opposite to me. I felt a sudden urge to laugh. These two were treating me like I was in grade two… when I mentioned this to Logan however…

"You sure look and act like one, half-pint."- He went-"shut up and eat."

**Lance's POV:**

"I can do it myself." I said.

"Stop fidgeting, lance." Said Tabitha, applying an antiseptic solution on my hand.

_Could I ever do anything right? Can i?_

No.

I had to leave her there. I hadn't even looked at her. Like the big idiot I am.

She had fainted and Logan had to take her home. And I'd sat calmly at my home, thinking she was at the school. At least until the rest of my home's inhabitants came back and informed me; that is.

And then I'd punched the only window left unbroken in my room and smashed it into pieces.

And injured my already injured hand.

_Go figure_.

"I've done it before myself." I grunted at Tabitha.

"Sure. It's almost done." She answered.

Since when does anyone in this house; someone s Tabby, become so calm-headed?

Maybe the world was changing for good.

Or worse- considering how Kitty; my sweet, caring, affectionate Kitty; had called me a –

"Ouch!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry. There. It's done." Said Tabitha, picking up the old bandage from the ground.

"Thanks.' I said.

"No problem." She grinned. "If you need anything else, Lance – "she said –"call one of the others."

I grinned back. Maybe the world was returning back to normal.

But, does that apply to Kitty as well? Will she be back to me? The way we were… even after she called me a – I sighed – "a hood"

**Thank you for the reviews, The Frog Prince… I like them as much as you like my story… I can say that your reviews have been encouraging me to post chapters earlier than I'd planned… and I totally agree with you… the show could've ended on a better note with a finality about their relationships, but forgive me; but my favorite is the Lancitty pairing!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:**** this chapter's a little short… hope you guys don't mind…**

"**Defiance for Love"**

**Kitty's POV:**

I clutched my sweater closer. I hadn't thought that it would get so cold in the evening. Wind bellowed at high speed; filling my nostrils with a smell of wet grass.

"It's going to rain soon." Kurt observed, shivering

"Hmm" I replied –"maybe you should leave. You don't even harm clothes on you."

"I can handle this." Said Kurt as he tapped on his watch and his original blue fur coat reappeared.

I personally liked him better this way.

Talk about heat insulation.

"No, really." I laughed." you should go. Others would notice if we both aren't there."

"You know kits; Logan will notice that_ you_ aren't there; anyway…" Kurt said.

We stood outside the Brotherhood's house. It had taken me two hours to convince Kurt to teleport me here before he'd finally agreed. We could actually hear Peatro and Toad fighting for the remote. Being inhumanly fast, Peatro had caught the remote before shouting—"gross" and leaving it for Toad. Must be the slimy-green coating the latter had covered it with.

Tabitha was busy maneuvering Fred in a manipulative game of chess in which she was _of course;_ winning.

I hadn't heard his voice. Except the once, when ten minutes ago, he'd threatened to bring down the house if they kept on the ruckus.

So much like Lance.

My Lance.

"Like, just tell Logan; I'm already asleep or something…" I said to Kurt.

"And then, I'll teleport out of his hitting range." He said, looking petrified." Maybe to the Himalayas."

I laughed.

"Well it may be out of his hitting range but that is still well inside his hunting range." I said.

"How comforting, Katherine." He snorted, looking all funny. But at the same time, teleported back home—leaving me alone to see _him._

**Lance's POV:**

It had been exactly ten minutes before I'd threatened to bring down the house on them. The voices had reduced but not to the extent I would've liked.

I liked it better when Rogue or Wanda stayed.

Their presence was a threat enough.

But Rogue had went to the X-men and Wanda- well… she was off to a mission of her own. I considered bringing the house down.

Cold breeze flew in through the broken window pane; making me shiver. Thermostat didn't work if you had broken windows.

It was really cold outside.

Maybe destroying the house wasn't such a good idea.

I could cause a few tremors. Nothing to cause much damage… but enough to grant some peace…

Just as I was about to release a small energy from tremors, I heard the doorbell ring. I heard the door open and shut, all within a second- courtesy of Peatro.

I glanced down from the window to look at our visitor.

A small silhouette stood at the doorstep uncertainly.

The one I could identify in the darkest of dark nights, let alone a windy evening.

_Kitty Pryde._


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: ** enough with the notes… they interfere with the reading… lolzz… enjoy guys…

"**Defiance for Love"**

Lance hurried downstairs and yanked open the door.

"Kitty?"

"Lance." She said; unable to speak anything else. They both stood there, looking at each other for what seemed like ages. For a change, the Brotherhood's house was quiet as everyone arched their necks to see who lance's visitor was, but nobody dared to speak a word for the fear of what will happen next.

Kitty shivered due to the cold wind. It seemed to bring lance out of his stupor and he backed up from the doorway.

"Please come in; its freezing outside." He said.

Kitty stood looking at him as yet another shiver rippled through her body. "No." she said.

Lance looked taken aback. Granted, she'd called him a hood, but if he had nurtured any hope that she might just not mean it; it was all shattered.

She'd come to reprimand him a little more.

"Lance—"she started, looking to catch his gaze which he purposely fixated above her head.

She'd never grown accustomed of his height and always felt tiny in front of him. And it certainly didn't help that he seemed adamant on looking at some point _above_ her head.

"What?" he spat. If she'd come to tell him off; well, he didn't need it. She couldn't tell him anything worse than what she'd already had, anyway…

Kitty recoiled at his tone. He sounded so angry. Her heart battered against her rib cage. Tears fell down from her eyes and she noticed that all the big words she'd planned for a proper apology that she thought he deserved from her had vanished. She couldn't stop the tears; nor could she bring herself to breathe.

Lance stiffened. Of all the things; he hadn't expected this. He knew that she was soft and emotional but she'd never before cried in front of him_.' Do something, you blithering idiot!'_ he mentally shouted at himself.

But he didn't know what to do. He wasn't even sure why she was crying. Had he really hurt her that much by attacking the X-geeks? Was she really crying because she was here to end this forever? It was easy when he'd told her it was over and that that he understood that. It was hard to actually see it happening.

'_whatever; I cannot let her cry like this."_

However, before he could so much as move his hand to comfort her; she looked him in his eyes and said in a hoarse voice—"I'm sorry, Lance. I'm so, so sorry."

Lance stood dumbstruck. She was apologizing to him for calling him a hood! He looked at her, she was shaking. Due to the tears or due to the cold; he could not fathom. Her beautiful face had a seemingly endless stream of tears flowing through them. She broke the eye- contact and looked down at her feet, again repeating her words—"I'm really sorry, Lance. Please forgive me."

"Hey, it's okay kitty." He said stepping close to her and pulling her face up to face him. He cupped her face in his hands, wiping the tears off her face and said to her, bending down to look in her eyes—" you don't need to apologize, Kittycat. It's okay.'

"No, it isn't." sobbed Kitty "I hurt you real bad. I was so rude—like you would be so right to break up with me, Lance."

If anything; her crying had increased and so did her shaking. Lance pulled her in a tight embrace and pulled her in; motioning Peatro to close the door.

He held onto her as she shook visibly in his arms.

"But I'm not angry at you, Kitty. "He said—"Kitty, I – I love you."

Peatro fell down from the sofa. Toad dropped the remote on the floor. Tabitha felt a smile creep up her face. Kitty looked up at him uncertainly. Lance wiped off her tears and nodded at her and said—'whatever happened was unfortunate, I know; but it was in the heat of the moment. But even if you don't think I'm good enough for you, I still love you."

"I don't think like that Lance. I think that you're perfect for me. I never meant what I said—I just… oh , I'm so sorry, Lance…"said Kitty and buried her face in his chest. Then said lightly—"I love you too, Lance."

Lance tightened his embrace and planted a light kiss in her hair.

"I know you do Kitty. And your love is enough for me to fight with everyone else." he said.

**Kitty's POV:**

I pulled the heavy rag curtains from the window; from where Lance had placed them at night to stop the wind from bellowing in the room. Sunlight seeped in through the window, which for some reason was lacking all the glasses.

It had rained last night and so I had decided to stay at this place. Lance was still asleep. I saw his bandaged hand and felt a stab of pain through my heart. _Was I really the only one in his life whom he wasn't dangerous to? He was dangerous even to himself._

Last night, while cleaning the dishes, Tabitha had told me that he'd had an accident and injured his head and hand the night he'd stayed out. And that yesterday; on knowing that I'd fainted; he'd taken to it as his own fault and broken the glass of his room's window; increasing the damage to his already damaged hand. I had a hitch that I was the cause of his accident too; Tabitha was just being good enough by not pointing it out.

I felt guilt flowing through me. His injury was due to my fault. I'd caused him so much pain, not only emotionally but as it appeared; physically too.

And in turn, he'd loved me so much. He had even forgiven me easily. He hadn't even asked for any explanations… just like that, he'd given me a place in his room to stay; like he'd given me a place in his beautiful heart…

I went and lightly kissed his cheek. He mumbled something and snucked deeper in his pillow. I decided not to wake him up. He'd stayed up till late in night, cradling me in his arms to keep me warm enough to help me sleep.

Just as I was backing away from his bed, I noticed his wallet on the bedside stand- that is; if one could call an overcrowded stool that…

I carefully placed the dollar bills that were lying beneath it, inside it and reminded myself to gift him a nice wallet for his birthday. It was however, adorned by a picture of us from the carnival. I smiled at the old remembrance. Suddenly, I noticed a silver piece dangling from it. I pulled it out slowly.

It was a bracelet. And the same one that I'd seen a few days before at the jewellery shop in the mall.

Oh my god!

**He bought it for me!**

My eyes swam with tears. At that moment, I was sure of one thing that was the most evident truth of my life—this guy, sleeping so calmly in front of me, capable of causing much trouble- yes; this guy loved me more than anything in this world. And I could feel that the feeling was mutual.

And though I wasn't going to tell him this; but he could fight with the X-men as much as he wanted or the X-men and the Brotherhood could behave as childishly as they can, for all I can say is that I'll never ever hurt him like this ever again.

_Because I was in love with him._

_He was my life._

_Lance Alvers, I will die for you if you ask for it. _


End file.
